- "The Gamers program is too hard and demanding. Come to our program where practice and style of play expectations are lower and we don't work as hard" (note -- what a great marketing message for young men...)
- "Play with us and you will win more games because we recruit better players" (note: meat market for $4 trophies, and btw aren't they likely to be recruiting players the following year to replace your son? There is always someone out there more talented ...)
- "The Gamers program is too expensive" (note: but they won't tell you their actual all-in fees or what you get for them)
First, regarding anxiety over 2013 roster spots in the Gamers, our policy is straightforward. If you behave like a Gamer, do things the right way and have the physical tools to play at the next age group, then you will be offered a returning roster spot for the 2013 Gamers.
At this point, we have helped place A LOT of kids into college baseball that were considered "average" baseball players at 12u-14u, but they played the right way and were Gamers. They developed into great players by the time they were 17 and went on to immediately contribute to their college programs.
So, that addresses the point of "next year" roster anxiety. If you are doing things right and have the physical skills to compete at the next age group, you will be will offered a Gamers roster spot for 2013.
Now, I will move on to how we stack up versus the Prospects, Pirates and others.
We have 2 programs inside the Gamers:
- a middle school program (11-14u) targeted at teaching kids to play the game the right way(physically and mentally), to learn to love the game and to learn life lessons from baseball.
- a high school age program (15-17u) targeted at developing players to play college baseball, to compete agains the top teams nationally and to learn life lessons from baseball. (Note: our 18u team includes only returning Gamers heading off to college who play a shortened summer season to prepare for college baseball.)
At the high school age level, our teams are the very top in the region. If there is any local program claiming that their high school age program is better or that they get more kids into college baseball or are better connected with scouts and college coaches, they are simply wrong.
The high school age Pirates are more talented than the Prospects, and our 16&17u teams were recently 11-4-1 versus the Pirates in a straight roundrobbin tournament at Lindenwood/UMSL. 11 wins in 16 games.
More importantly, every year we continue to graduate kids that go on to great colleges. Most play college baseball, with almost 90 players in the past three years making that transition. When they arrive on college campuses, they are prepared to succeed on the field and in the classroom, partly because they have worked hard and been challenged in the Gamers program. That is the best measure of success.
At the middle school ages (11-14), our program is 100% developmental. Ultimately, we are trying to help 11-14u players make a successful transition to the 15-17u Gamers program and high school baseball.
At this age group, we recognize that it is sometimes challenging for us to compete against highly recruited teams full of early-puberty boys. There are some 14 year olds that look like they are 20 and enjoy dominating the sport for a few years.
But, between 11u and 17u, real baseball players are developed, not recruited. By the time they are 17, advantages of early-puberty disappear and the better baseball player wins out. We would much rather spend time developing that player, than doing a recruiting sales job.
When being approached and recruited by other programs, please consider the following:
- We have more practices and instructional time built into our program, in most cases by 2X. Plus the 90 minute structured practice before games. You cannot get better at baseball unless you have a glove or bat in your hand. Our players have more time with gloves and bats in their hands.
- Our instructors and coaches are the best around, hands-down. This is not even a close comparison on any measure.
- Most other clubs at 11-14u (now even HS teams for the Prospects) have dad coaches whose sons' bat at the top of the order and play key positions all the time. Our dad coaches are carefully selected and do not do that. And many of our 11-14u teams are not dad-coached. NONE of our 15-17u teams are dad coached.
- We tell you how much our program costs and post it on our website. Nothing is hidden. Other programs do not do that. Good luck getting a straight answer to questions about costs. And, we do not make money on player/team travel costs. Other programs get commissions on hotel stays (subsidized by high rates at low-end hotels). They are in the hotel commission business, not baseball.
- Other team programs are owned by a business, where people keep profits at the end of the year. The Gamers is a non-profit with no shareholders. No one gets a profit. There is no incentive to "make money".
- Immediately following tryouts, we tell 95% of players which team they will be on and who their coach will be. Other programs do not do that, unless the teams are dad-coached.
- Our training facilities at ASP, along with the new turf infield, are the best available in the region. There is no indoor soccer being played at ASP on the weekends and evenings.
- We have structured life lesson program, built around the Pyramid of Success and the PCA principles. Other programs pay lip service to this.
- We check grades and communicate to players that grades are more important than sports. Other programs have more lip service.
I could go on longer, but will stop here.
If someone is selling you hard on their team or program, you have to ask why?
It is probably not related to the substance of a baseball. It is usually about choosing recruiting over development. If they were truly interested in their players, they would be focusing time on developing the players that they have, instead of recruiting Gamers kids. Where they spend their time tells you a lot.
Thanks again for being part of the Gamers program,
Mark Gallion
